Caramel Chocolate Moxie Cake and a Fair Trade Giveaway!

Caramel Chocolate Moxie Cake and a Fair Trade Giveaway!

Hey friends! Today I've teamed up with Fair Trade USA to help spread the word about their new Mother's Day campaign called FairHer. There are a great number of women who work for Fair Trade companies, including moms who are working to provide better lives for their families. Each time you purchase a Fair Trade product, you're empowering women in agricultural communities, fighting poverty and promoting environmental sustainability.

I mean - wow. You do all that just by buying chocolate! I can't think of a better win-win situation. Speaking of chocolate...

I always look forward to baking with Fair Trade ingredients, and this year's goodie box was filled with the most amazing baking cocoa and wafers. I decided to honor them in the best way I know how - by baking them into fluffy chocolate cake layers!

Each year Fair Trade USA pairs a blogger with a Fair Trade farmer to tell their story. Read below to discover how buying Fair Trade products positively impacts the people who grow our food.

Natividad Nagua, 53, an organic banana producer affiliated to UROCAL since 2004, declares: "Before I used to produce conventional bananas, but I was not happy with all the pesticides we used, as it damages our environment. I attended a conference with a representative from UROCAL and I immediately joined. We now produce clean, healthy, organic bananas, and the advantages of Fair Trade are incomparable. The stability of the price we get for our product makes us feel happy, and at home. I am very worried about the environment and the effects it has on everyone's health. Of course we all need to make a living and get ahead financially, especially to keep our children from migrating. I want them to study, but at the same time I don't want them to forget their land, their roots. My message to the consumers in the United States is: Please buy our bananas because they are clean, healthy, they come from a small organic farm, and you can give them to your kids, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, without any worries."

Now. This cake!

The recipe starts with my favorite chocolate cake layers. It's an unbelievably moist cake with the softest crumb. It's covered with salted caramel buttercream and then topped with drippy ganache. It's finished with a heaping helping of caramel corn and all the Fair Trade chocolate bars and candies I could throw at it!

As a caramel fanatic, this may be my new favorite version of chocolate cake. With its crown of crunchy caramel corn and chocolate munchies, it's over-the-top in the best way possible.

Good luck to all those entering the giveaway! You can read more about the benefits of buying Fair Trade and the FairHer campaign here!

It may seem odd that this cake is baked at 300°F instead of the usual 350°, but the lower temperature helps the cake to retain moisture, and it doesn’t crown so you won’t need to level it before frosting. I don’t consider the caramel corn on top optional, but feel free to use your favorite candy bars and chocolate toppings for this cake.

Make the frosting: In a 2 quart saucepan, stir together the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook without stirring until the mixture turns deep amber. Remove the pan from the heat source and slowly add the heavy whipping cream in a thin stream while whisking constantly. Be careful with this addition; the mixture will bubble and steam when the cream in added. Use a long handled whisk to avoid a steam burn on your hand; stir in the vanilla. Transfer the caramel to a separate bowl and let cool until just barely warm but still pourable.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and salt together until lightened and fluffy. Reduce the speed to low and add the confectioners’ sugar. Mix until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the motor running on low speed slowly pour in the cooled caramel. Beat on medium-high speed until completely combined, about 2 minutes. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel so the frosting doesn’t dry out as you assemble the cake. Make the chocolate glaze: combine chocolate and heavy cream in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high until the milk begins to steam. Remove from heat and let stand 2-3 minutes; whisk until chocolate and cream and smooth and combined. Add corn syrup and vanilla. Whisk again until smooth. Place mixture in the refrigerator until thick but still pourable, about 10-15 minutes.

Assemble the cake: Place a chocolate cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand. Cover with a layer of caramel frosting; repeat once more and top with the third cake layer. Frost the outside of the cake with the remaining caramel frosting. Pour the cooled ganache over top of the cake and allow it to overflow and run down the sides. Insert candy bars standing upright into the top of the cake; top with caramel corn and chocolate candies.

Tags

211 comments
:

What wouldn't I love to make with all of these products?! Of course I'd try this cake out first, then maybe some decadent chocolate cookies with SEA SALT, and then I'd try really hard not to just eat the chocolate by itself

This cake is gorgeous! I love the toppings too, but most importantly that it supports FairTrade! How do you decide which great product to choose as a favorite? I love the Bark Thins, Coffee and of course, anything chocolate!

OMG, decadent doesn't even come close to describe your cake. If I had all of those ingredients, I'd use the cinnamon and tea to make some fun scones, the chocolates would probably be some kid and adult friendly beverages and baked goods, and the popcorn and bars would make movie night more heavenly.

I am so glad that you support Fair Trade products. I've been choosing Fair Trade coffees and chocolates (because they're the easiest to find). Now, where can I get some Fair Trade wine? ;-)

I would make my husband a belated birthday cake! We were travelling over his birthday, so the cake kind of got skipped. :( I normally make him a chocolate cake with caramel icing, so this post really resonated with me!!

So fabulous! We are baking desserts for a local shelter's mothers day event... this cake might just go on the menu! How lovely! I'd use the coconut oil to whip up some sugar free chocolates for myself. What a generous and indulgent give away! Yum!

I recently made a similarly over the top cheesecake, topped with all manner of tasty chocolates. I'd probably made a second version of that, inspired by whatever flavors in the box inspire me! Or I might just eat it, since I'm 9 months pregnant. Chocolate doesn't last long here!

Gosh, what a lovely giveaway! Since I have a major craving for chocolate chip cookies, I would make them using large chunks of chocolate and sprinkling some sea salt on top. I'd also love to try switching out the butter with coconut oil. Thank you so much for the chance to win. :)

My birthday is soon, I'd love to make myself some treats! I've been obsessing over your nebula cake, but perhaps something a little different might be in order! Thank you for doing this give-away! It's so fun to enter these things!

Oh...so many nice things. I would probably start by eating all that TCHO chocolate, haha. Then maybe a flourless chocolate torte? Something southwestern inspired with the agave? Lots of possibilities :)

I'm with Erin on the margarita with the blue agave syrup! And I'd love to try to bake this cake -- sounds complex, but well worth the time and effort. I'd leave the salt out of the caramel buttercream frosting -- I've reached real overload on salted sweet stuff -- but otherwise, wow, it would be delicious!

I LOVE LOVE Marich products! First off I would have to pop some of this chocolat in my mouth - for testing purposes of course! This cake looks AAAmazing! But I would go with something simple for the delicious chocolate to shine through, maybe salted caramel brownies or chocolate pudding. Hungry just thinking about it!

This September my husband, Joe, will turn sixty...he is also being listed for a HEART TRANSPLANT. This would be a very special cake to make to celebrate both important and momentous occasions. It looks unbelievably delicious.

I could probably find a way to use each of these products in the recipes I already make! I would use the coconut oil when making rice and the oil and cinnamon in oatmeal cookies. I would really like to try using the Bark Thins as the base for home made toffee....yum!!

I'll definitely make chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache becuause there's this boy in our church who's father is in the army, and he absolutely LOVES chocolate. So I thought these would cheer him up.

I would make a delicious batch of Chocolate fudge brownies, and anything else I can think of with all of these wonderful ingredients!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Will start by baking this wonderful cake, my granddaughter loves carmel and she will love this cake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I would make your Caramel Chocolate Moxie Cake for Fathers Day! Serious chocolate cake, salted caramel frosting, chocolate ganache with those yummy toppings...what a way to thrill my dad (and I get to try out my new cake pans too)!

I would like to try baking with coconut oil; to date, I have not had the confidence to do so, but if I won this brilliant giveaway, I would have the perfect opportunity to finally do so. I enjoy making cupcakes so salted caramel, chocolatey cupcakes would definitely be on my to-do list!! Thank you for this opportunity and great giveaway.

Wow what an interesting box.. there is so much in there that I would like to try. Coconut oil and Agave are part of our everyday life. Never tried the Blue Agave though. I am learning to make ice creams and I think all the different kinds of chocolate would be wonderful to experiment with. Your cake is simply gorgeous. Not sure I could pull it off. Mine tend to have leaning issues.

Amazballs…..ur cake is epic!!!!! If I were to win this spectacular giveaway box……..hmmmmmmm, I would make a chai tea, coconut and chocolate bread pudding with a bark thin crumble! And to top it off, a cinnamon ice cream to boot. DELISH!

I love how this is my first time coming to my blog after a pretty decent hiatus, and I see this amazing cake. I'd probably make a thousand cupcakes or use these in some kind of ice cream Frankenstein's monster cake deal.

Oh, wow! What a cake! it'd be hard not to want to make that. I love GUittard chocolate; my fave for cookies. And I've been making and giving a lot of cocoa roasted almonds so flying through my cocoa stash. The rest of the goodies? Looks like one can have a cup of tea beside a lot of different amazing treats! Whomever gets the box will certainly enjoy!

ooomg alright so those ingredients look amazing. i'd definitely want to make some super rich truffles. maybe i'd infuse the tea as well, into some sort of muffin or cake! oh yeah, with some of that cinnamon. mmmm yum

While the cake looks delicious, I would love to make chocolate cinnamon rolls loaded with extra chocolate and maybe even some chocolate covered caramel popcorn on top...who says you can't have dessert for breakfast?

While the cake looks delicious, I would love to make chocolate cinnamon rolls loaded with extra chocolate and maybe some chocolate covered caramel popcorn on top...who says you can't have dessert for breakfast?

I'd love to try to concoct some sort of eggless desert for my husband with these...

And I would like to share this, if you don't mind, on my Giveaways for Good linky here (http://suchfuntogive.blogspot.com/p/giveaway-link-ups.html)...but I couldn't find an end date to list. (That's also something required by US law if you're hosting a giveaway, so you might want to add that regardles). It's an easy oversight to make.

Ice Cream Pie. Those Bark Thins and coconut oil are heading for the bottom layer of my spring form pan. The next layer is homemade coffee ice cream incorporating some of the firm chocolates. The final layer is a whipped cocoa moose with chocolate shavings and crumbled espresso brownies for garnish!!

What a great prize pack and your cake looks superb! I haven't had much dessert in the past couple months because I've been training for some marathons. I've done two in the past two weeks and I have one more in the middle of May, on my birthday. With all that said, I will be baking a cake the day after the marathon/birthday! Sometimes when I wait this long for dessert, it literally and figuratively tastes that much sweeter!jlammers002 at woh dot rr dot com

I am always thinking of ways to make interesting homemade ice cream flavors! I could see Barkthins, fair trade chocolate bars, and coconut oil all bringing wonderful texture to ice cream. Even steeped tea/coffee makes a wonderful addition to ice cream--especially with some Guittard ganache folded in. A batch of salted caramel brownies or cookies could even be added to beer ice cream for a wonderful combination of salty and sweet.

My granddaughter and I are baking together (she's 10);so, we'd begin with cooked to highlight the chocolate and to share with her brother. Then, possibly a treat fort her teacher nice the school year is almost over. Whatever we do will be great fun because we'll do it together!

My dream Mothers Day is to spend the entire day (or morning) in the kitchen making this cake! What a fun recipe. I really appreciate knowing about this Fair Her campaign. Just followed the board....it's nice to have a resource to know which products are fair trade. Thanks!